Making the trip back to Simeulue from the isolation of the Banyaks we were dropped right back into the hustle and bustle of civilisation. Reluctantly we trudged back into the Harbour Master to complete the formalities and were pleasantly surprised when they took our paperwork and told us we were still covered by the last time we checked in, no money was asked for, yes! That's right I repeat no money was asked for!! That is something that is nearly unheard of in Indonesia. With the formalities out of the way we stocked up the supplies and had an early night in anticipation of our first visitor from Australia.
The next morning we were woken early by the muezzin calling everyone to prayer, it was around 4.30-5.00am, there are at least 4 mosques in the vicinity, all with loudspeakers trying their hardest to out-scream the others. At 6.30am we received the first lot of phone calls from our driver, Ranu who was wondering where we were even though we had organised to meet him at 7.00am. It was amazing to meet someone who is so efficient and Ranu has been a godsend, not only can we organise transport through him but he has a shop and cafe where we can get a meal and buy frozen chickens! You have no idea how hard it is to get meat around here, markets are no good for that sort of stuff there are so many flies hanging around that it can turn your stomach a little.
To our surprise the plane was actually earlier than we expected and it wasn't hard to spot Patch amongst all the short, dark haired locals, he towered well above everyone. He'd made it! Everything was going to plan! After hugs and hellos Patch informed us that his boards were still in KL. Ok, so not everything was going to plan. He was operating on very little sleep having spent most of the night at the airport trying to organise for the boards to at least make it into Indonesia. After several phone calls plans were changed and instead we had an extra day in Sinabang to show Patch around. We walked the streets searching for gas regulators and responding to the hundreds of 'Hello Misters!' thrown our way. We took Patch to the local markets so that he could see how we have to source food here, it was strange to try and look through someone else's eyes as they saw these markets for the first time, we have grown immune to it but I vaguely remember my shock at the state of some of the stalls.
A quiet couple of drinks on the boat and Jay and Patch took off in the inflatable for an hour or so to view Sinabang from the water, they soon made friends with some fishermen and boarded the fishing platforms for a look before coming back to the boat to enjoy dinner and a movie.
This morning has been the long wait for a phone call to confirm that the boards have been put onto a plane bound for Simeulue. That call arrived about 5 minutes ago and Patch's frown has been turned upside down at the thought of finally heading off to the waves. Ian and Michelle have kindly (or not so kindly) been sending us updates via text on how good the waves are back in the Banyaks! Patch is almost visibly shaking with excitement and the boys are off to wait at the airport for the arrival of the elusive boards. Within a couple of hours or so we should be on our way, stay tuned for the next instalment...
|
Comments [5]
xxxx
Henri
Well, it's the 10th of June, Jay's birthday and we are travelling yet again. Not exactly the way we had hoped to spend the 43rd anniversary of Jay's birth, especially setting off at the ridiculous hour of 2am but the need to get out of Sibolga was strong. We will celebrate Jay's birthday in a day or so in the seclusion and splendour of the Bay of Plenty and rumours of a big swell soon to hit the area make this journey all the more appealing.
We left Afulu on the 6th of June and stopped on the way at Teluk Siaba where we planned to get a good nights sleep before an early start to tackle the 86 miles we had to cover to get to Sibolga. Were it not for the fact that we had to get our visa's renewed we would have decided to avoid Sibolga all together. Teluk Siaba was a little bay dotted with seaweed rafts and a couple of fishing platforms, it wasn't long after we anchored that the local fishermen approached to have a chat. We found out that we were the first yachts that had ever anchored in there, the boys hung around on Raku and then came to the beach with us to continue the chat. There was a haphazard wooden jetty coming out into the bay that the local boats tied up to and beyond that was their village. We could see the smoke rising from behind the trees which generally tells you there is a village nearby, we were invited to go visit them but our time schedule meant that we had to keep moving to Sibolga. Sleep that night was interrupted by eager locals passing behind the boats with their music as loud as they could make it in the hopes that we would come out for a chat, ignoring them they eventually went away.
We were up at 4am the next morning and made it to Sibolga by 5.30pm, just in time to get the anchor down and watch a magnificent sunset. People were lined up along the shoreline enjoying the cool time of the day and floating around in the water in rubber tyres. The sound of the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer floated across the water to us. We had dinner and had just relaxed on the couch to watch a movie, grateful for the fact that the locals had decided to leave us alone for the moment when we heard a hello being shouted from the back of the boat, we weren't going to get off so easy! A local fisherman wanted to come on board to talk, the Indonesian people don't seem to have any concept of time or privacy and after a bit of back and forth banter we finally managed to convince him that we had had a big day and that we were going to sleep. Under normal circumstances we would have chatted for a while but after a big day and lack of sleep it is very hard to try and converse in broken Indonesian, the brain simply refuses to work! Due to a lack of English speaking tourists to the area, English is not as widely spoken, the result is that our Bahasa is getting better but it also means conversations are slow as each person tries to work out what the other person is trying to say!
The next morning we up anchored and moved to another area where we were to meet Peter, a visa agent who was going to help us get through maze of paperwork and officials to organise our visas. It still took several hours of sitting in the immigration office. Once we were fingerprinted, photographed and paid in full, we were free to explore Sibolga. We treated ourselves to a meal at the oddly named CFC fast food restaurant. We asked what the CFC stood for and were told Kentucky Fried Chicken but Kentucky was spelt with a C in this case, I don't know how the Colonel would feel about that! Along with the regular burgers, fried chicken and fries were things like Mie Goreng (Fried Noodles), chicken wrapped in Pandanus leaves and fried rice as well as strange drink combinations such as orange juice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or the one Ian was brave enough to try, Avocado juice with a scoop of chocolate ice cream!
Our transport around town alternated between motorised becaks, motorbikes with a closed in side car, just big enough to squeeze two people into uncomfortably and something similar to a rickshaw which was much more comfortable but slower due to the reliance on pedal power. It was nice just to ride around the streets having a look but we didn't really do a lot of sightseeing. We were determined to get stocked up and out of there as soon as possible. It was hot, busy and the water was full of rubbish, dead fish and bloated up dead water rats. The smell that wafted to our boat from shore was disgusting and on more than one occasion the smell was so bad that it woke us up at night. Not to mention that the sewage goes straight into the harbour but the locals were still swimming in it, the sound of childrens laughter could be heard as they bomb dived into the filth.
Due to the lack of white tourists in the area we were told that many of the local children had not seen white people (orang putih) in the flesh so when we were in the Supermarket a gaggle of schoolgirls followed me around touching my backpack and the back of my head and giggling. It was bizarre! Most people would come up and chat but others would just walk up, stand inches away from your face and just stare for 10 minutes. It was becoming tiring and when we finally left Sibolga the relief at not feeling like the prize exhibit in a zoo was great. But we did enjoy some good meals out, one at an Indo restaurant and the other at a Chinese restaurant called Taipan. There are a number of Chinese in Sibolga.
It's always interesting to see new places but we were glad to say goodbye to Sibolga and head back into the wilderness again.
|
Warm regards from Melbourne,
H
Asu is one of my favourite places we have been to in Sumatera so far. It had a great feel about it and reminded me a little of Roti in Southern Indonesia. Asu has a population of around 60 people as well as a handful of surf camps, the surf camps surprised me because the island is so small. But with the exception of one surf camp there, they all seem to fit in with the community well. We met Earl an American who had just taken on the management of a surf camp there but didn't have any guests yet. Enrique was the manager of the Brazilian surf resort, he and the local family involved are not liked by any of the locals. They don't seem to do anything for the local community, treat any of the guests they get that are not Brazilian like crap, treat their staff badly and an incident resulting in the death of a Brazilian guest last year is cloaked in controversy. As well as the 'Holiday's with Purpose' camp, Mama Silvi rents out some bungalows and there is a surf resort for sale, the owners didn't come back after the earthquake.
The water there was crystal clear, the sand white and coconut palms abound as this is one of the main sources of income for this island and those surrounding it in the Hinako's and has been for many years. According to the LEAP organisation, which is doing some amazing work in this area, some of the elders remember a Dutch ship coming to the islands before the second world war to buy the smoked meat from the coconuts known as white Copra, said to be some of the best in the world. Over time though the dollar value of the Copra decreased as the cost of living increased and many families were unable to live on the proceeds. Today locals grow coconuts to be produced into 'black copra', when it reaches Medan it is processed into a low grade coconut oil and exported to the Netherlands. LEAP built a new coconut oil production facility on Hinako, they used only fully mature nuts, paid above market rates and produced a high quality cold pressed virgin coconut oil. The plant was handed over to local management last year but wholesale profits of the oil go back to the organisation to fund the many community projects they have underway in the area. The thing that impresses me about this organisation is that they involve the local community to help themselves, they don't give without receiving something back. Unlike the many aid agencies we have seen in the area who give until the money's gone and then leave the area.
LEAP was founded by Channa and Ruby, two Australian's who are living and raising their family in Indonesia, they have been here for around 12 years. They have a surf charter boat called the Indo Jiwa, we met Channa in the Banyaks and were keen to get to Asu to see what they had been doing. The proceeds from the Indo Jiwa raise money to fund the Indonesian foundation they set up called Yayasan Indo Jiwa. LEAP has been involved in building fibreglass canoes for the communities (they require less maintenance and last for longer), organic gardening projects, they assist a children's home called Pondok Rahmat on Nias and run a Coconut Kids Club for the local children, there is one on Asu and one on Hinako. Michelle and I were going to go and help out but the day we were supposed to go the weather turned bad and we had to head back to Afulu. I am hoping we get the opportunity to go back and help out. Central to the LEAP project is 'Holidays with Purpose', many of the projects could not be run without the assistance of volunteers. Many of the guests go aboard the Indo Jiwa for a surf trip and then go on to land to assist with the community development projects. Unlike many other organisation specialist skills are not a requirement, your contribution may be manual labour but if you do have a skill, ie. You're a doctor, they would maybe set up a medical clinic. I think the work they have been doing is amazing.
One of the local personalities on the island is Mama Silvi, she is absolutely adorable. We had read about her in one of our cruising guides. She is the 'go to gal' to get anything brought over from the mainland and she is a very good cook. We enjoyed a couple of meals at her losmen. At the front of her home she has a couple of long tables with bench seats that are always filled with chattering locals. Mama Silvi herself is always busy, she provides supplies, water etc to some of the surf camps, her boat goes across to the nearest town to get supplies most days. Our first night she cooked us fried noodles and chicken (freshly killed just for us) and the following night we enjoyed some fish and chips. The food is good (it always is when you don't have to cook it yourself) but the atmosphere is what makes it. Around the same time every night locals make their way to Mama Silvi's to crowd into her living room and around the windows to watch the local soap operas. Indonesian soap operas are hilarious, they are overacted and scenes are punctuated with long stares off into the distance but the locals can't get enough of them.
As for the surf...
Big, wally left with a really nasty shallow end section. Didn't really get much swell while we were there. We didn't make it to the big right hander at Bawa because of the bad weather.
|
